Donnie LytleITGM 705Project C, Final Write Up

My final project is a narrative driven 3D, first person puzzle/adventure game (or rather the first level of a larger storyline). The player starts the game in a free fall through a dark pit. There is little lighting as you fall, just enough to see destroyed bits of robot falling alongside of you. The player lands in a fairly shallow body of goopy-slime stuff in a dimly lit room. Shortly thereafter, a spinning, blade covered object begins to roll towards you, crushing everything in its path. At this point the player will have to interact with the environment in order to escape.

The player will continue to navigate the level, interacting with the world, avoiding environmental hazards and solving simple puzzles to progress.

The level contains many strong visuals which work to make the level feel real and part of a larger world/narrative.

The Fall and The Pipe

Changes:

•Initially the player was meant to spawn into free fall along side several dead bots

•This proved to cause several glitches within the level and was eventually replaced with falling gibs(chunks of dead bots; per suggestion of classmate).

•Initially there were two possible routes for escaping the spinning doom roller

•In order to simplify, I cut it down to one escape route

•The light was made brighter inside the escape vent, in order to catch the player’s attention

•Initially the raised pipe was to be lowered by shooting a chain and causing it to fall

•Although that action was simplified into an elevator of sorts, an extra step was added, requiring the player to hop the fence and acquire jump-boots in order to progress

•Feedback was added to the switch so the player could easily tell when the lift was active

The Piston Room and The Chasm

Changes•Initially I had considered adding a timed mechanic to the piston room which would slowly fill with damage-causing gas

•Timing the jumps was tough enough without the complex addition of a death causing haze

•Lights were added to the parts of the pistons the player should jump to or watch out for

•Blood/Oil splatters were added in places in which the player could be crushed

The Trap

Changes•The addition of a bright light just passed the trap distracts the player from the pair of trap doors and also causes the player to feel that their path has been purposefully altered•A dynamic blocking volume spawns behind the player once the trigger is flipped, making escape impossible

The Turbine

Changes

•The Turbine wasn’t fully realized until I finished building the rest of the level

•Initially there was going to be another rotating blade contraption, much like the first obstacle, except larger

•Instead a multi-layered turbine fan was created

•Per the suggestion of a classmate, the player would escape by aiming through the center of the turbine fan

•While testing the turbine and anti-gravity system I accidentally landed on top of the fan blades on several occasions, being able to walk around on the rapidly spinning objects

•I decided to implement this mechanic to the level, requiring the player to step out onto the blades and walk precariously to safety

•Lights were added to the end of the walk-able blades to help the player take that first step

The Exit

?Changes

•Prior to deciding on the having the player walk across a spinning fan blade of death, I had thought about sending the player up through the center of the fan and out into safety

•Now the player tiptoes across the blades to a room with a long tunnel, at the end of the tunnel is a bright light and a teleport, thus ending the level